The antioxidant status in human population based on the concept of prakruthi in Ayurveda

摘要

Objective:In the Ayurvedic system of medicine,body constitution (prakruthi)is said to play a vital role in the disease process as well as in its progression.Free radical toxicity is also involved in the etiopathogenesis of many disorders.Hence,in the present study an attempt has been made to correlate the body constitution type and the antioxidant status of that prakruthi.Methods:Healthy volunteers from Manipal University Campus, South Karnataka,India were classified into three main human constitutions (prakruthi)and their possible com-binations and their serum total antioxidant activity was determined.Results:There was a significant negative correlation of the total antioxidant status with the pitta prakruthi whereas vata and kapha constitutions showed no significant correlation with the total antioxidant status.Conclusion:Ayurveda classifies each individual based on his/her prakruthi into three categories of Doshas:Vata,Pitta and Kapha (collectively known as Tri-doshas).The three Doshas are fundamental regulatory principles responsible for maintaining organism functio-ning and manifesting those characteristics typifying each individual,that is,in equilibrium Tridoshas signify health and an imbalance leads to disease.Thus,in this study a significantly decreased antioxidant status in the Pitta group would render them more susceptible to damage by oxidative stress.Hence,we suggest that supple-mentation with antioxidants of herbal (Ayurvedic)origin to such a group would prove to be beneficial -opening up the arena for pharmacogenomics and customized antioxidant drug administration based on the prakruthi of an individual.